DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DOCTRINAL AND NON-DOCTRINAL RESEARCH AS PER JURISPRUDENCE

THE FOLLOWING TABLE OUTLINES THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DOCTRINAL AND NON-DOCTRINAL RESEARCH AS PER JURISPRUDENCE IN DETAIL:

Aspect	Doctrinal Research	Non-Doctrinal Research
Definition	Focuses on legal doctrines, principles, and established laws.	Examines real-world legal practices, effects, and social implications.
Objective	To analyze and interpret existing laws and legal theories.	To investigate how laws operate in practice and their impact on society.
Methodology	Primarily analytical, involving critical examination of statutes, case law, and legal texts.	Empirical, using surveys, interviews, case studies, and observational methods.
Nature of Data	Qualitative data is derived from legal texts, doctrines, and precedents.	Both qualitative and quantitative data from real-world contexts and human behavior.
Outcome	Development of theoretical frameworks, principles, or critiques of legal doctrines.	Insights into the practical functioning of law, including effectiveness, enforcement, and societal implications.
Examples	Analysis of constitutional provisions, interpretation of statutes, and critiques of legal theories.	Studies on the impact of legislation on marginalized communities, analysis of judicial behavior in courts.
Relevance	Primarily relevant to legal scholars, practitioners, and theorists focusing on law as a system of rules.	Important for policymakers, social scientists, and practitioners interested in law’s real-world implications.
Limitations	May lack practical application or relevance to contemporary issues; and can be overly theoretical.	Can be influenced by subjective interpretations and may lack rigorous legal analysis.
Field Application	Commonly used in academic legal research, law reviews, and theoretical legal discourse.	Applied in law reform studies, legal sociology, and interdisciplinary research involving law and social sciences.